Poxnora analysis from a non-commited player

Don't get me wrong. I love Pox and have been in and out it for a few years, but it was never high on my playing list until now (out of time to play anything else) because it always lacked in some aspect.

Yes you have alot of information we dont, which puts you in a position to know Pox better then any of us, but if you really wish to make this game increase its player base there are so many other things to be done other then balancing PvP. But since you keep talking about how much money Pox makes, maybe this is working great for you and the effort it would take to improove player base just isn't worth it (resources can't be an excuse, if you have a good plan/ideia, which you already have part of it, you can easly fund it with crowd funding).

Thing is Pox has amazing mechanics, you just need to improove the structure that supports it (not talking about engine).

 

Neither me or the OP ever said it was easy. The crowdfunding thing was a figure of speach because I really do belive that Pox has a great concept and that this by itself could attract resources.

Also, the fact that Pox has tried X or Y doesn't mean it shouldn't try Z. I don't thing ppl in this thread are being negative or criticizing the game history, they are all just trying to improove the game. Yeah the impact of ideas could be over estimated but they could also be under estimated. That shouldnt be a reason not to do anything other then what you are already confortable with. Also thats why you come up with a plan to get several ideas in motion, so a single idea will have less impact on the whole but will definely contribute to your final objective.

 

Well, we (longer term players) know that Pox was indeed successful that's why we want it to return to its prominence.
You guys have done quiet a bit over the years to get new players (Steam, ad banners, etc)...
BUT...honestly Sok, all we are doing at this time is trying to recoup $'s from the repurchase from SOE (in the form of expansions and rune sales). You guys could turn this game into a Porshe at this stage (as far as features, NUX, etc) and I still don't think this version of Pox will bring back the players it had in its glory days (basically repeating what you said in your post).
We all know it, but none of you green guys are saying it, that this game needs a face lift, new engine, and redone...Pox 2.0...
Am I correct or do you green guys think differently?

 

I've been a fan of this game since launch and always end up coming back to it, but I agree that the focus needs to be on retention and making the game more playable. The amount of memory leaks and performance issues in the game now is staggering. I think with a new engine and some of the mechanics mentioned (more incentives, easier to buy tokens, easier to get into the rune pool without a huge investment) will keep this game going.

I have to give a lot of credit to @Sokolov because when I left the game a few years ago, SOE had completely destroyed it and the cost of getting runes you wanted was astronomical. The Forge and the revamp have made a world of difference and I can't believe the kind of progress that has been made. I think the game is in a wonderful state as far as game mechanics goes, I just wish that it ran better and was easier for new people to fall in love with like I did.

 

Octopi had it right, Soe came in and stole the show, and DoG is the clean up act.

I'm secretly hoping that DoG can just revert it back to original classical pox 2009

 

Then I'm sorry, I made bad choices of words, but only because I see a post with a great idea and our main developer instead of recognizing it, get on a defensive position saying that X and Y were done and that the game was once successful, etc.

We all see that some initiatives were taken to make the game better, but sometimes it seems that too much effort is put on things that wont necessarly improove it in the long term. But I'm probably wrong about that because I have no way of knowing what you have planned next for the game and what have been done for that matter... Question: do you have a goal for where you want Pox to be in the next 12 months? If so, do you have a plan on how to get there?

 

oh my goodness it is great to see some former utopians! I use to play that forever ago.

 

@Sokolov do you really mean that there are no new players nowadays? Gee whizz. Time for a different model. I can't believe Pox is still going but please keep up the good work, with developments to keep it running.

 

This game is awesome and i hope it can be brought back to its old glory days. I joined before SOE and loved the heavy customization the game offered. It was what upset me the most when SOE did its revamp. The only thing I liked about what they did was get rid of the attack stat, it was annoying. I quit because of the way they were changing the game, super champs with way to many abilities.(shouldn't need a scroll bar for that) I really like what has been done with the game, it is why I started playing again. While i was getting my account back from SOE( a long process due to forgotten info) i tried the free to play thing. It seemed cool, getting free stuff for learning how to play was nice. I think it would be better if you got a crappy deck you could start customizing right away, or an immediate link to the shop to show theme decks(possibly make more for well know themes as well?)
The biggest issue I have with the game is probably the user interface while playing. the combat log is really lacking. Most hidden spells don't show up at all, and I mean after their effect happens(they are hidden and that mechanic is good). When a champ gets rock eater from the spell Protection, the game doesn't tell you how it gained rock eater, it just says the creature was protected. Also things like the global tab still giving the old unholy tomb description. These are things that are easily overlooked by people who actually know whats going on, but to new people are frustrating because its not possible to learn every rune in advance.
I play magic somewhat competitive and this game has a lot of what makes that game great too. They are both easy to learn the basics but have amazing depth.(also shows that the market is quite possibly bigger than you think, magic has been getting huge lately) But every time I play someone I know exactly what is causing every interaction because the card is always shown to me what is causing the effect,(plenty of people have to read cards they are not familiar with in the middle of a tournament, my decks focus on non-meta cards) I don't have to try to look it up in a checklist mid game and figure out its duration or exactly what it does. The flavorful descriptions in the log are really cool, but should not be at the expense of showing the rune.
Also add into the tutorial the weird game mechanics, like knockback. They make lots of sense when they are explained, but newbies get confused as to how their guy took so much dmg.
TL;DR game is sweet and keep up the amazing work fixing what has been trashed a few times, and please fix combat log soon.

 

You guys have been doing a really good job but there is alot of room for improvement in many different areas of the game. Seems like a very interesting job you guys have atm, should be really fun working on this stuff trying to get it right. Combat log, maps, ability costing, non champ rune costings, fixing broken ability/stat sets, creating different things to sell like reskins, recolors, etc, fixing bugs, advertising, and alot more. Pretty cool. In wonder wtf soe's logic was while they owned the game.

You guys have to work 24/7 to make the game perfect. no breaks, no vacation, and no lunch.

 

I hear theme decks mentioned a lot in here but when was the last time pox had a new theme deck ? Many things the community has mentioned such as them specific packs, core base set given to new players, new theme decks and tokens either being cheaper or being able to buy them individually. Those are a few things that could have been changed in small patches that would create a healthier version of pox and retain players a little longer. However now i feel like pox is on borrowed time sadly, which i really hope isn't the truth.

Pox's biggest problem, no matter who owns it has always been the short-sighted approach to the game's future and the only income being from expansions.

 

more factions?!?!?!(maybe split some current ones up???)

 

Oh no, you're back?

 

Great post. I think veterans have got the idea into their heads that this is a hard game to learn, which in one sense it is (knowing all the runes and effects) but on a basic, learn to play, level it is fairly intuitive - as I've been hearing from several sources lately. The DoG revamp was pretty successful in this, though there are a few niggling issues getting in the way.

@Sokolov Is there a wider issue preventing hidden spells from showing in the combat log? I've noticed it on individual spells but didn't realise it was all the hidden ones.

 

Great read. And nice comments from Sok as well. I think there are a lot of good things addressed.

First, I think what dooiefries meant by "a system to help retention of new players" wasn't received as he intended. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I imagine what he says to be more comparable to a new player experience when you join say, League of Legends. Factually it is not as complex as Poxnora is, but you can really argue that everything in League would be way too much to take in on your first day. League doesn't serve as a perfect example, but when you start out, you have access to learn as much as you want about any champion, but only playable access to the champions that are available for free that week, and many of your other options (runes, summoner spells, even purchasing for friends) are restricted or very limited. You start with basic tutorials and the option to play AI or players of similar level. As you level your account, you unlock runes to improve your Champions, new summoner spells that previously were inaccessible to you, and the ability to play at higher levels. Imagine if Pox ran on a similar method. New players get some free stuff to start, but locked trading abilities, no avatars or even transfigurable shrines. You can limit rune accessibility in a number of ways probably best by a few expansions at a time. Imagine as a player levels their account, they learn slowly about new races, about avatars, you could even divi up spells into learning about AOE's, single target, racial, power rounding, global effects, etc. And the level of their account would help pair new players with others that are in the same place instead of being matched with lower ranked veterans. The only logical argument I can see against adopting a similar model to this, would be the current size of the player base (which I actually think is the largest issue we have) though I know isn't easily fixed. There simply isn't enough players to pair at lower levels. And if we divided it into account level brackets, we'd make it even worse to get matched for games. This brings me to what I think the most pressing issue for this game is: the size of its player base.

I think we lose a lot of players simply because there isn't many people playing. And I don't know how many new players I see begging for someone to queue for training matches so they can completely unlock everything, but log off because no one is there to play them. That would be the biggest turn off to me. I think dooiefries idea is a pretty darn good "step 1" to expansion of the game. People say we need pox 2.0 or claim the game is dead, but the game is far from dead and 2.0 doesn't happen overnight. I think there should be an ordered list of priorities that are addressed with action if we want growth, expansion, and improvement.

If you were to ask me, I think this is how the list should go:

Step 1: I think dooiefries' idea to revamp the new player experience is a good starter. Though I think that the size of the player base is the biggest issue, if we don't have a drawing engaging experience in the first hour of playing, reaching out to new players won't be as effective, thus making a good first impression priority #1

Step 2: Pox's current primary problem, the player base needs to increase. The best way to start would be a refer-a-friend method to use the existing player base to reach new players. Create a reward based system for recruiting new players, with increasingly valuable rewards the more people you can recruit. This is cost free advertising and one of the most successful ways to increase players. I actually have a pretty in depth plan I thought up specific to pox. This method is actually one of the main reasons League got big in the first place, not to keep comparing to it.

Step 3: Focus on balancing patches and racial synergy

Step 4: This would be kind of an overtime thing, but thats where you improve graphics, huds, visual realated stuff, and the AI.



I know Sok that this game has reached saturation, but I don't think it matters much pertaining to the game's future. New players don't know the game's history and there are hundreds of thousands of people out there that have never heard of this game that are ideal candidates for it. Card games are making a comeback right now and I think this game could honestly be huge.

 

@Sokolov One avenue that may well be worth exploring for new players is the Boardgamegeek (BGG) website. Many of the people there are very much into complex games, and fantasy war themes are well received.

Look at Mage Wars, Descent, Battlelore, Mage Knight, etc.

For guys like that (like me), coming from a boardgame tradition, Pox is like a dream come true. Even with the warts. BGG guys show good long term commitment to quality games. Including investment in add ons. In fact, all of those above have had second or third full editions with multiple extra sets in between.

BGG could be a source for a number of fully committed players. The number may not be massive but they are likely to invest for the long term, so absolute income may be ok.